Raiders blow another lead in 31-24 loss

The Raiders jumped out to a 21-7 lead, with Matt McGloin looking sharp early, but had another second-half meltdown and lost 31-24 to the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day in Dallas.

Dallas scored 24 straight points, with the first drive coming in the final two minutes of the first half. DeMarco Murray ran for three touchdowns as the Cowboys improved to 7-5. The Raiders did score on a Sebastian Janikowski 45-yard field goal with 56 seconds left, but they couldn’t recover the onside kick.

McGloin got off to a great start, completing 11 of 15 for 146 yards, but he hit a wall in the second half. The Raiders finally got something going again in the fourth quarter, but McGloin underthrew a pass for 5-foot-9 Jacovy Ford in the corner of the endzone and it was picked off by Brandon Carr.

Oakland falls to 4-8 after seemingly having a chance to get coach Dennis Allen his first win over a winning team in his second year.

But the Raiders got conservative on both offense and defense, seemingly afraid to make a mistake. And the Cowboys offense, which sputtered early, grabbed the momentum with its no-huddle drive at the end of the first half and never looked back. Dallas quarterback Tony Romo was 9-for-9 in the third quarter for 74 yards and a 4-yard touchdown pass to Dez Bryant.

Oakland sacked Romo twice, but seemed to play back in zone rather than aggressively blitzing to generate some pressure. Defensive end Lamarr Houston was dominated by Dallas left tackle Tyron Smith and the Raiders weren’t getting any pressure from their three- and four- man rushes.

This after the defense looked good early as the Raiders jumped out to a 21-7 lead.

Oakland returned the favor later in the quarter, when McGloin fumbled the snap at the Raiders’ 4-yard line. Rashad Jennings tried to pick it up instead of falling on it at the 2, and it was recovered by Dallas’ Kyle Wilber. Murray scored on the next play to make it 7-7.

McGloin had a nice rhythm going early, throwing the ball to spots for Rod Streater and Andre Holmes to make plats, and led the Raiders on 79- and 50-yard drives in the second quarter.

A 20-yard pass to Streater, a 22-yarder to tight end Mychal Rivera and 20-yard strike to Holmes on 3rd and 9 lead to a Jennings 1-yard touchdown run with 10:16 left.

McGloin and Holmes would hook up on 3rd down again the next drive, on an 11-yard crossing pattern on 3rd and 8. Jennings scored again from one yard out, with 1:56 left, to give Oakland a 21-7 lead.

And that’s when the lights went out. The Cowboys didn’t wait to halftime to make adjustments and quickly moved down the field in a no-huddle offense. And the Raiders offense couldn’t stop the momentum in the third quarter, gaining only 25 yards.

Rashad Jennings was held to 35 yards on 17 carries and Darren McFadden, in his first game back after missing three with a hamstring injury, only gained 13 on 5 carries.